That’s me standing on a ladder as if I’d done something impressive.

Something impressive was in fact done, a new roof was put on that pergola (which in NZ is usually a per-GO-la).

When we moved in the roof was made of polycarbonate sheets that had cracked and faded due to sun and the predations of a shockingly robust pink trumpet vine.

But most of the work was done by my friend Les, whom I had enlisted for some help. I knew he had skills, but man! He came over one afternoon last week and rattled off an exact shopping list for me, including things I wouldn’t have thought of. Then this week he showed up bright and early Monday and did most of the heavy lifting while I acted as apprentice. It was all done by lunchtime.

We’d had two handymen bid on the job, and they wanted about 4x what I ended up spending, even factoring in that I’ll be buying Les’s apres-swim coffee for the foreseeable future.

It was really fun to do this project, and I learned a few things… purlin screws!